The upcoming Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are definitely the first to feature rear-mounted fingerprint scanners, but their positioning is surely unusual for a smartphone.
As many of you probably know by now, Samsung has decided to place the fingerprint sensor on the back side, next to the camera, rather than below. Because of that, this feature will be awkward to use especially with just one hand.
The good news is both flagships come with iris scanner as well, so you might end up using this authentication feature instead of the unusually positioned fingerprint scanner.
Today, a cryptic tweet that suggests Samsung may kill the fingerprint readers went live. A Samsung official is quoted as saying “we will kill the fingerprint, it's obsolete.” File this under rumors, though, since an official statement from the South Korean company has yet to be published.
In fact, we can safely assume that Samsung won't comment on its plans, especially those that refer to the period after the Galaxy S8/S8+'s launch.
In a time when fingerprint readers have become the norm for any decent mid-range or flagship smartphone, Samsung's alleged statement seems very bold.
Getting rid of the fingerprint scanner in future flagship smartphones means that Samsung must replaced it with another authentication method. There's a high chance that the only authentication method Samsung will use in the future is the iris scanner, which will be packed inside the Galaxy S8 as well.
The iris scanner hasn't been largely adopted by handset makers yet, possibly due to the fact that the technology isn't as advanced as the one inside the fingerprint sensors.
It's hard to believe Samsung will kill fingerprint readers in a time when companies producing these sensors are spending big money on technological breakthroughs that will enable them to put their products in as many smartphones as possible. What do you think?
